SPOTLIGHT: Candidates vie to seek election to three House seats

MURFREESBORO – Voters are selecting Republican nominees for the state House of Representatives Aug. 7, and the races have links to legislative races from the municipal to the federal level.

State Rep. Joe Carr’s decision to challenge incumbent U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander in the GOP primary resulted in a vacancy in the 48th House District, and three candidates including a sitting county commissioner, Adam Coggin, are seeking the nomination. Also seeking the seat are Rick Peppers and Dr. Bryan Terry.

Coggin serves as director of AdamsPlace Residential Living. Peppers, who retired from the telecommunications industry in 2012, operates a registered black angus farm, Five Peppers Farm. Terry is an anesthesiologist affiliated with the Murfreesboro Anethisia Group and Saint Thomas Rutherford Hospital.

The winner of the GOP primary will face Democrat Bill Campbell, a retired campus minister at MTSU, in November. District 48 includes western Rutherford County.

Coggin did not see re-election to the County Commission seat for District 15.

In the 49th House District, however, another sitting county commissioner, Robert Stevens, is unopposed in his bid for re-election to the District 12 commission seat. Stevens is challenging incumbent Mike Sparks for the state House seat.

Stevens is a Smyrna attorney, and Sparks is a former county commissioner and Smyrna businessman. Sparks has served in the Legislature for two terms.

The winner of the GOP primary will face Mike Williams, chairman of the Rutherford County Democratic Party, in the November general election. District 49 includes downtown Murfreesboro as well as the Smyrna-La Vergne area.

Stevens and Murfreesboro City Councilman Eddie Smotherman apparently plan to serve on the local and state legislative bodies simultaneously if they are successful in their House races.

Smotherman, who has two years remaining on his council term, is challenging incumbent Dawn White for the 37th District seat.

Smotherman is a Murfreesboro businessman, and White, who is completing her first term in the House, is a former teacher and now operates a business in Smyrna. District 37 includes northeastern Rutherford County.